


Can You See Me?

by TheStoryVerse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Biracial Lance (Voltron), Blind Lance, Bonding, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I love Galra Keith so that will most likely happen, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Pidge's family mentioned, Voltron au, but he's also oceans deep and so layered, lance and Blue are great, lance is blind so there may be triggers for some people just in that, lance is still a goof, maybe they'll show up later?, platonic paladins - Freeform, trauma and injury, trigger warning: car crash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 17:37:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8294329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStoryVerse/pseuds/TheStoryVerse
Summary: I'm sorry I really stink at summaries.  Lance is blind, Hunk is wonderful, Lance and Keith get off to a rocky start, Shiro is space dad always, Pidge is salt-incarnate (but also sensitive and wonderful) that just wants her family back.  A story of origins and the formation of Voltron; follows canon but with obvious deviations where necessary because of Lance ;)





	1. Beginnings: Let the origins commence and the antics begin

**Author's Note:**

> (I am soooo ticked right now because I got this posted and completed then the ENTIRE thing got deleted -_-)
> 
> Wow I can't believe I'm finally WRITING this thing! I've had this AU in my head for a while but now I'm actually doing something about it. Crossing my fingers it goes well and we can all have fun exploring the paladins, their relationships, and the story of Voltron together!
> 
> The name of my fic wasn't based on this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_tLvMeEuF4  
> But WOW it's so beautiful and perfect for Lance in this fic (throughout all of season 1 and into season 2 with the separation) and for his relationship with his family/space family
> 
> I'm using female pronouns for Pidge because that's where the show is at canoninically right now. I'm using them for her time at the Garrison as well because despite Lance and (semi)Hunk not knowing her true gender, we, as the audience, do.

The sky was dark and thunder rumbled across the sky, the blackness cut only by the headlights of cars as they sped along the rural freeway. Periodic crashes of lightning appeared almost purple as they cracked and fractured along the thunderheads. Lights of other cars and scattered homes flashed quickly past the rain-smeared window. Lance leaned as far as he could over his slumbering sister to watch the droplets race each other across the glass.

“Look Mamá! The big one’s gonna win I know it!” he giggled as quietly as his enthusiasm would allow so as not to wake his sleeping sibling, eyes tracking the flowing drops.

Lance’s mother smiled warmly, risking a small glance back to where her little son sat wedged between his older sister and brother and responded softly, “Perhaps _mijo_ , but don’t discount the little ones, they can surprise you most when you least expect it.”

Lance flashed a grin back at his mother, “Just like me!” he cheered brightly.

Maria groaned at Lance’s sudden spike in volume and elbowed her younger brother, trying to get him to settle down so she could drift off again. Lance squawked and pushed her back. Maria’s complaint and their resulting shoving-match jarred Lance’s brother out of his own light sleep and elicited a long-suffering sigh from their mother. Their brother let out an annoyed exclamation and joined in the developing row with his siblings. Lance’s father turned back to them with a stern glare. He had just begun to reprimand them when a brilliant light suddenly flooded the car from ahead as a huge form barreled towards them in the pounding rain.

Lance screamed in terror, his brother’s arms instantly encasing him in a protective cage as Maria cried out, “Mamá!”

Glass shattered around them as Lance felt his body being pressed sharply on all sides. A concussive weight crashed across his skull and everything went black.

**********

Muffled voices reached Lance’s ears. He twitched, not sure where they were coming from, or what was going on. His head was a numb fog and his limbs felt impossibly heavy and itchy. His arms were wrapped in some unknown fabric, and he was having trouble opening his eyes.

“...Semi truck... damage to occipital cortex…” The voices became clearer as Lance came gradually out of his stupor, but they still didn’t make any sense to him, nor did he recognize the speakers.

“His condition is more stable but we won’t know for certain how he’s faring until he wakes up.”

“I understand.. thank you Doctor.” A voice responded wearily.

_...¿Papá?_

Lance tried to open his eyes, but there was something heavy blocking his efforts. Not to be deterred, Lance wiggled his eyebrows and nose, trying anything to shift the fabric so he could crack his eyes open. It was a few moments before his efforts were rewarded. But when he finally managed to crack one eye open and was still met with a searing blackness, not even the barest hint of light seeping through, Lance panicked.

“Madre, padre! Papá where are you?!” Lance twisted in agitation and hands abruptly surrounded him, pressing him gently back into the strange bed and speaking soothingly to him.

“Mamá, Papá! Dónde están, where are you, I can’t see you, I can’t see _anything_!” Lance sobbed in fright.

“Son, mijo it’s okay! It’s okay.” Lance stopped twisting as his father’s warm hands clasped his own, his voice soft and consoling.

“What’s going on?” Lance’s voice quivered but he felt braver with his father’s hands around his. “Where’s Mom, and Maria and Antonio… why do I hurt so much, and why can’t I see?”

“Your mother and siblings are just fine sweetie. There was an accident but everyone’s alright. As for your eyes,” his father paused momentarily, somewhat hesitant, “you just have some bandages on because you hit your head pretty hard back there.” Lance’s father gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

A voice from Lance’s right spoke then, gently, “We’ll give you some more medication to help with the pain, and we’ll see how your eyes feel after we take the bandages off in a day, okay?”

Lance sniffed. He gripped his father’s hand a little tighter, but steeled himself, wanting to put on a brave face for his family. He was still unsure, but was willing to hope the darkness he’d seen when he opened his eye had just been his imagination. “Okay.”

*****

But when the bandages finally came off, to Lance’s utter horror he _still_ couldn’t see. It was only the soothing of his mother that finally calmed him down. His siblings had briefly fled the room at his cries, unable to stand seeing their little brother so distraught. The doctors explained the situation to him and his family as Lance clung to his mother and father. He didn’t understand all of their words, but his blood went cold and he started to cry again as he realized one thing for certain. He was going to be stuck like this. The blackness was never going to leave.

 

**********

“Come on!” Lance hissed as he crept around the corner, maintaining close contact with the wall as he listened intently to their surroundings, one hand gripping his walking cane and the other resting on Hunk’s arm, “You’re supposed to be my eyes, what are you doing!”

Hunk gulped and clutched Lance’s arm a little harder, stepping past him to peer around the corner. “I’m not sure we should be doing this man. What if we get caught?”

“Pfftt you worry too much! Besides, after a reaming like the one you said Iverson gave you in the simulator, you could use a good night out! That’s why I snuck in here to see you after hearing your message.”

Lance continued to move confidently forward with Hunk at his side as they snuck through the halls, Lance pressing on Hunk’s arm whenever he heard the footsteps of the guards so Hunk could pull them out of sight.

“Tch, yeah sure had nothing to do with the fact that you probably just wanted a wingman to help you get some girls. We are so gonna get caught and I’m gonna end up in the principal’s office again!”

“You know for someone in a Space Exploration Program you don’t have much of a sense of adventure.”

They continued to argue in whispers as they snuck down the main hall, keeping an eye and ear out for any more of the Garrison’s guards. Lance’s head pricked up swiftly as he heard the telltale _hiss_ of a door opening ahead of them. He tugged sharply at Hunk who quickly smothered a startled yelp and hastily yanked them down a side hallway.

The door hissed shut and they heard light footsteps run off in the opposite direction as Lance pushed against Hunk, forcing him to peer out and see who it was.

“Pidge?” Hunk hissed curiously, “Where’s he going?”

Lance shrugged. “Don’t know.” His face split into a mischievous grin, “But let’s find out!”

Hunk groaned, but Lance was already determinedly moving in the direction he’d heard Pidge run, so he quickly ran forward to catch up with his friend. Hunk wasn’t about to let Lance attempt to pursue Pidge on his own, something he knew Lance would certainly do without hesitation. Better to go along with his friend’s schemes and try to lessen the after-effects as much as possible.

It took longer than they’d expected and more twists and turns than they’d counted on, but they managed to not lose her as they trailed quietly behind. _Man how can someone so short move so fast!? Lance Shh!!_ When they’d finally caught up with Pidge, she had already set up some odd contraption at the roof’s edge and was listening intently to something on a headset. Hunk whispered all of this to Lance who flashed him a sly grin and, after asking exactly where Pidge was relative to himself, proceeded to sneak up on her. When he thought he was close enough, Lance flicked his cane forward connecting with the backside of Pidge’s head. Pidge let out a shriek and whipped around startled while Lance burst out laughing.

“You come here to rock out?” Lance grinned as he looked down towards her.

Pidge let out a small breath, “Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, um, just looking at the stars.” She responded with a light shrug.

“Huh.” Lance tilted his head to the side with a slight frown, “That doesn’t sound like Garrison tech…”

Pidge flashed him a self-satisfied smirk, “I built it. With this thing I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.” Pidge smacked Hunk’s hands away from her equipment as she spoke.

“That right, all the way to Kerberos?” Lance raised an eyebrow, crouching down to Pidge who huffed and turned away. “Hunk says you go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up. Heck, even I’ve been there for some of your meltdowns! What’s your deal?”

“Second warning Hunk!” Pidge glared at Hunk who stopped fiddling with the antennas, pointedly ignoring Lance’s question.

“Pidge come on. You and Hunk are on the same team you shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”

“Uh, Lance leave me out of this please.”

Pidge narrowed her eyes at Lance, “Yeah well you’re not on my team why should I say anything to you?”

Lance’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly and there was a spark of something deeper underneath, a flash of pain. Pidge bit her lip, _maybe she went too far..._ But Lance just took a deep breath, “Because I’m your friend Pidge. Maybe we can help you.”

Pidge sighed and looked away, contemplating. “Fine.” Determination flashed in her eyes as Pidge looked back up at them, “The world as you know it, is about to change. The Kerberos mission wasn’t lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake. So I’ve been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter.”

“Whoa, what?” Hunk sat up quickly, “Aliens?”

“Okay. So either you’re insane or you’re messing with us. Got it.”

“I’m _serious_ , Lance. They keep repeating one word,” Pidge held up a notebook covered in crude drawings, tapping on the open page, “Voltron. And tonight it’s going crazier than I have ever heard it.”

“How crazy?” Before Pidge could respond, alarms started blaring across the roof and buildings.

_Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice._

Hunk stood up looking as confused as Pidge and Lance, “What’s going on?” His gaze drifted up and his eyes widened as he gaped, pointing, “Is that a meteor?” Lance’s head jerked towards Hunk’s voice as Pidge followed his pointed finger. “A very, very big meteor?”

Pidge grabbed her goggles as Hunk moved around Lance towards her, “It’s a ship.”

Hunk grabbed the goggles, looking through while Lance made a frustrated sound. “Guys what is it, what’s going on?”

“Holy crow I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Lance there’s a ship coming towards us through the atmosphere and it’s not one of ours.”

“No,” Pidge grinned, eyes tracking the ship’s rapid, heated descent, “It’s one of theirs.”

Hunk’s eyes widened even more if possible, “So, wait. There really are aliens out there?”

There was a large flash of light and loud crash as the ship disappeared over some ridges in the distance, impacting with the ground on the other side. Garrison vehicles were already flooding out of the barrack’s gates and towards the crash site.

Pidge had gathered all of her equipment into her backpack as the ship vanished. She took off towards the door, looking back at Hunk and Lance, eyes bright, “We’ve got to see that ship!” Lance followed her without hesitation, walking stick trailing back and forth as he moved as quickly as he could after her.

“Hunk, come on!” Lance called out over his shoulder.

Hunk scurried after Lance to help him navigate the halls and follow Pidge faster and easier. “Oh, this is the worst night-out bonding time ever.”


	2. The smile on your face, just like the old days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This could be the start of a beautiful friendship, or, how Hunk and Lance met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh I can't even believe it! Seriously my head is STILL spinning. YOU ARE ALL SO AMAZING. Everyone's responses were so kind and just thank you so much!! It's so encouraging, I was not expecting this level of a reaction so thank you! Your excitement feeds my own and keeps me writing XD
> 
> I'm still working through some bugs in the next chapter, but I REALLY wanted to post something for you guys. So this is one of the flashbacks I mentioned in my End Notes last chapter. It's long enough that I thought it would be ok for a mini chapter. This time you get to see how Hunk and Lance met and became friends ;) My precious cinnamon rolls!
> 
> This wasn't as heavily edited as my first chapter so if there are issues in flow and style I apologize. I had a writer's itch and I just couldn't wait to post something!
> 
> Note: All flashbacks, including the ones that will be integrated with the story will be italicized

_Lance was not pleased when he found out he was being uprooted from his home. It had been a few years since the accident and Lance had long settled into the new swing of things. Life was perfectly fine, thank you very much. But no amount of kvetching, dramatics, or petulance was going to budge his father. He’d been offered a fine job working for the Galaxy Garrison, and Lance’s family was thrilled at the prospect of the advancement._ Yeah, way to rub that in more. _Lance thought moodily as he sat on his vacant bed, careful to wrap the model planes and spaceships up in packing paper. He’d always loved the Garrison. He’d listened to and read every mission report and update he could get his hands on, even after the crash. But while being so near the main school and facility would be a dream come true, he couldn’t help a twinge of bitterness as he placed the last model into its box. His aspirations to be a pilot and fly among the stars had been forcibly ended long ago._

_“Lance, are you finished packing?” His brooding thoughts were interrupted by his mother’s voice, floating through the open doorway from the kitchen on the other side of the house._

_“¡Sí mamá!” Lance called back, “I’ll be right out!”_

_He’d quadruple checked his room for anything and everything. His parents were firm believers in Lance being independent, which meant if he missed anything, he was stuck without it. They’d help him out like families do, they’d told him, but he was responsible for his own belongings and no one else. Lance delicately placed the last model into the box and sealed it shut, even as he detected movement from down the hall. Lance’s head twitched up as his ears picked up the familiar sound of his brother’s footsteps coming into his room._

_“Hey bud. Let’s get you loaded up.” Despite his pout over the move, Lance couldn’t help the upward twitch of his mouth as he heard the familiar wink and smile in Antonio’s easy tone._

_Antonio ruffled his brother’s hair as he moved past him to pick up the heavier boxes. Lance gave an indignant huff and responded by flicking his cane at his brother’s heels, earning a laugh from his elder brother._

_“Aww come on Lance it won’t be so bad!” Antonio teased as he finished loading the boxes onto a hand truck that had been in the room, “In fact, I’ll bet you’ll make some of the best friends of your life there!”_

_Lance snorted in disbelief as he stood, carefully cradling the small box with his models in it in the crook of his left arm, right arm extended to drag his walking cane across the ground. He heaved a dramatic sigh and followed his brother out, making sure to ooze out his skepticism and displeasure as much as possible at Antonio’s retreating back._ Friends? Oh yeah, of course. Lots of kids would be over the moon to go play with the new, little blind boy. _Lance was_ sure.

 

*****

 

_“Oh it’s no trouble at all dear.” Mrs. Garrett flashed Mrs. McClain her warmest smile as she swept into the McClain’s new kitchen, placing a few plates of homemade pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies on the bare counter. “It’s always nice to have new families moving in. Goodness knows I could have used similar help when we first arrived here!”_

_Mrs. McClain smiled back, “Well I’m very grateful to you and your husband. You’ve certainly made the move a lot quicker, and it’ll be nice having someone Lance’s age living just across the street.”_

_Mrs. Garrett let out a boisterous laugh, “I’m certain the two will get along great! Especially with how gregarious Lance seems compared to Hunk. Hunk’s a sweetheart, and I’m sure Lance’ll get my son out of his shy shell in no time!” She added with a wink as they walked back outside to help the men bring in more furniture._

_*****_

_Hunk moved nervously down the hall. His parents had practically sailed over when the moving truck had pulled in, immediately offering their services to the new family. Everyone was really friendly as far as he could tell, but he still felt uncomfortable being surrounded by people he didn’t know. His mother had tasked him with taking one of the lighter boxes into one of the side rooms while she deposited her homemade sweets in the kitchen. Hunk came up to the room, noticing that the door was already slightly ajar, and tentatively pushed it all the way open. There were stacks of boxes all haphazardly clustered near a closet to the left, conveniently out the way of the center of the floor. A writing desk rested near the closet while a small bed lay in the middle of the room underneath a large window. Sunlight was streaming through and Hunk could see a large, open backyard edged by various fruit trees, most of which he didn’t really recognize. As he entered, Hunk noticed a young boy who looked about his age gently placing a small box in the middle of the bed, as if it was the most precious thing in the world. He had tanned skin, though not quite as dark as his own, Hunk noted, a mop of messy brown hair that looked like it was perpetually flying in wind, and a faded blue t-shirt and white shorts. The only thing odd about his appearance were the sunglasses._ Then again, _Hunk reasoned,_ he might have just come in from outside. It was pretty bright today.

 

_The boy sighed, startling Hunk out of his thoughts, “I know you’re there so you can stop standing in the doorway. I can tell by your footsteps you’re not my parents or my siblings, so if you’re not them, who are you?”_

 

Footsteps…? _Hunk shuffled his feet nervously, a little confused, as the boy turned to face him, arms crossed in front of his chest and a slightly challenging look on his face._ Oh boy.

 

_“Oh, I’m uh, Hunk, your new neighbor. My mom said to bring this box in here. Um, where do you want it?” Hunk murmured sheepishly, holding the box out in front of him._

_The boy tilted his head as Hunk spoke, as if appraising him, before his features suddenly relaxed and he flashed Hunk the brightest smile he had ever seen. “You can just set it down anywhere really, so long as it doesn’t crush any of the others boxes or block the doorway. I’m Lance by the way.” Lance spoke confidently and rapidly, but his sparkling warmth set Hunk’s nerves at ease._

_Hunk walked over to the closet and set his box down next to the small desk, attempting to make some kind of conversation. “You know you’re pretty lucky to have such a big room. And wow, that view man. You have such a big backyard and your window looks right out onto it! I wish I had that.”_

_Lance just shrugged, expression tightening almost imperceptibly, “Dunno, can’t really see it.”_

_Hunk noticed Lance’s sudden hesitancy and the change in his body language, even if Lance was trying to play it off. He felt his own face contorting with confusion._ He couldn’t see it? But… _Hunk took in the room again, this time critically analyzing what he saw, from Lance’s expression to the sunglasses to an odd white cane with bright red tips he hadn’t noticed before leaning against the bed._ ...Ohhh! _Now that he thought about it, his mother had mentioned something about the McClain’s youngest son being disabled to his father. Hunk smiled lightly then, voice cheerful as he spoke._

_“What? Aww man, dude, not acceptable.” Hunk bounded over to Lance, plopping down on the bed next to him, and, to Lance’s surprise, began animatedly describing the backyard. Lance sat down next to Hunk as Hunk began to talk. He rattled off in detail to Lance how cool and spacious his new yard was, about the size and number of trees, the length and look of the grass and leaves, and the places where buried treasure probably lurked, just waiting for the two of them to dig it up._

_When Hunk’s mother came to find him a few hours later, she was greeted by a scene of the two boys laughing and chatting animatedly on Lance’s bed, all thoughts of work and unpacking long forgotten._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have four exams this week so next update might not be til late this week or beginning of next, but I'll try my best to make it as soon as possible!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Take this offering of lots of interactions with Keith including Lance's first (and second;) meeting with him and our rescue of Shiro as payment for my sins kajdkfjsjdklf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have no idea if anyone is still around for this fic, but I'm back! I am SO sorry about the year-long hiatus. I never wanted to be those people, but sometimes life doesn't go as planned. I started having some health issues around September, but, because I'm me, I didn't get it checked out until late October-early November. So I've basically spent the past year trying desperately to not fail school, get into my major (which I did!!), and deal with my health problems. So, haven't really had the mental energy to do much writing.  
> I really want to say _Thank you so much_ to all of you. Your comments have kept me going with this and hopign to get back to this fic. Honestly all of you, even just the little "I love this, I hope you update soon!" comments have kept me writing in segments when I could. So, I hope that this will make up a little bit for the long hiatus! I really hope that doesn't happen again. I've prepared some little updates in case I hit a wall and can't update for a bit, so you'll still be able to have something new. ZeynepD idk if you're reading this but I wanted to do a quick shout out because your comments were so sweet and kind, thank you so much! Those of you who've read all of my fics and commented, you make me cry and I love you.  
>  I'm still pretty sick, so updates may still take several weeks to a few months (Unless I'm hit with a writing fervor lol). But it's getting better and may be more manageable soon!
> 
> Thank you all for being so patient with me! Now, let's see if we can get back on this train! XD

_Lance crept stealthily through the halls, feet following the now-instinctual path towards the flight simulators. He occasionally clicked his tongue softly, listening to the echoes reverberating back to him. There was no need for Lance to echolocate around Hunk. His cheerful friend was more than happy to guide Lance himself, and Lance was more than happy to let him. Hunk would be annoyed he’d ditched his cane again, but Lance needed to practice! He’d gotten good at quickly assessing distance and dimension, but density was always eluding him. Sizes and distances were always somewhat muddled, especially if there were too many things around for the small noise to bounce off of._ If only he had some way of differentiating easier… _Lance mused silently as he neared the Flight Simulator Room._

The simulators. _A jolt of glee flashed through Lance, excitement sending him practically skipping forward._ Hunk had time to take him through the simulator again! _He was almost giddy._

_It had been too long,_ far _too long in Lance’s very loud opinion since Hunk had led him through a simulation (Or so he’d made sure to tell his best friend several times an hour for the past 2 days)._

_His heart swelled again just thinking about it. He knew he couldn’t really be a pilot, but being able to at least taste it... Well, it was more than Lance could have dreamed. Not only had he made one of -scratch that-_ the _best friend of his life here, but Hunk had been more than willing to take Lance to see the simulators after a particularly bad day when he’d lamented out loud about the Garrison and his dreams of flying. Hunk had surprised him with it. Lance had responded more enthusiastically than Hunk expected though, instantly demanding they enter and that Hunk teach him how the controls work. It took a while to talk him down, but Hunk finally convinced Lance that while Yes, they could go in, and yes, he would show Lance the controls and let him feel them, he was not turning on the simulator right now. Lance had taken that “right now” to heart._

_It had only been a couple months, but Lance had gotten rather good at reading the controls. Granted they crashed near instantaneously when they first started, which Lance blamed Hunk’s panicking and lousy directions for, but Lance refused to give up. He practiced physically whenever possible, and mentally every waking moment. Sure his skills were rudimentary at best, but the joy of flying was more than enough. And Lance’s whooping never failed to bring a smile to Hunk’s face._

_It was a little risky though. The simulators were for students only, so he knew the kind of trouble he and Hunk could get into. It made him feel guilty every once in awhile when there was a close call, but while Hunk would huff a bit about nearly getting caught, he’d always wave Lance’s fears away. Hunk knew how much this meant to his friend and that’s what mattered he told him firmly. Besides, it made Commander Iverson crazy when he went over the flight logs which was an added bit of fun. Iverson didn’t understand how the cadets could fly fine in class and yet there seemed to be one of them that was constantly crashing like a drunken kitten during practice hours. And, to his scowling chagrin, sometimes past practice hours. Whenever it happened, Hunk would tell Lance about Iverson forcing all of the teams and pilots through extensive simulations and training. They’d both started to feel a little guilty, so they didn’t fly the simulators too often anymore. Besides, Iverson had added new security to try and figure out which student was bombing the simulators. So they had to be wary of that in order to avoid getting caught and Hunk getting in serious trouble. But Lance had had the itch for almost 3 weeks now and he couldn’t take it anymore._

_Lance was relieved to make it in without coming upon any guards. He could probably pass off as a cadet despite the civilian clothes if needed, but he didn’t want to risk it. It wasn’t past time for the simulators to be open, but it was late enough that no one would be there. Just like they preferred. Lance walked right up and stepped through the doors, his eagerness getting the better of him._ Hunk wouldn’t mind if he waited inside.

_He was so focused on getting to the machines_ right now _that Lance didn’t even notice when he suddenly slammed into a… wall? He went down with a squawk in a tangle of limbs._

_“Hey!”_

Oops.

_Lance hadn’t been listening to his environment, so he’d failed to notice that there was another person in the room with him. A guy, maybe around his age from the sound, and he’d walked right into their back._ To be fair, _Lance frowned, bristling a little at the man’s indignant tone,_ how could the guy possibly not have heard the giant door hissing open so closely behind him?

_Lance heard the guy moving to stand up, grumbling about un-observant people, and Lance could practically feel the scowl he was sending his way. Oh, Lance was_ not _liking him so far._

_“What’s with the sunglasses? It’s night, and we’re indoors.”_

Oh wow, this kid wasted no time being condescending and abrasive did he? _Well,” Lance answered dryly, a smooth smirk taking over his face as he stood, dusting himself off, “They just so happen to be my color. Really brings out my eyes, don’t you think?” He waggled his eyebrows at the man, trying to defuse some of the tension._

_The man ignored him._ Rude.

_“Why are you even here?”_

_Lance bristled and grit his teeth._ That’s. It. _“Oh, I dunno, maybe to practice on the simulators?” Lance drawled, dragging his voice out as if speaking to a child, punctuating his words with wide gestures._

_“Don’t patronize me! Besides, I was here first!” Lance could hear the boy coming closer to him, seething with anger and annoyance._

_“Oh yeah? Well I’ll have you know Mr. Higher-than-thou, Hunk and I always come at this time so this is our turf at the moment and you can just clear out!_ ¿Claro?” _Lance growled back, stepping forward so they were almost nose to nose, fists clenched at his sides._

_The man inhaled, ready to snap a retort back when the door hissed open and another figure entered the room._

_“Keith?” Hunk exclaimed in light surprise, “What are you doing here? Uh… Lance?” Hunk paused, taking in the sight of Lance standing, flared up and looking ready to fight, closely in front of Keith whose arms were crossed in front of his chest and who was scowling darkly, eyes glinting with a bright malice back at Lance._

_“Um…” Hunk’s gaze swiveled back and forth between the boys, at a loss as to what had happened or what to do. “Guys?”_

_“Tch.” Keith clicked his tongue in annoyance as he stepped back from Lance, glancing towards Hunk. “Whatever.” He stalked past Lance, bumping his shoulder lightly as he went. Lance’s squeak of surprise turned into an angry exclamation, but Keith didn’t turn to look back at either of them as he stormed out of the room._

_As soon as he was gone, Lance erupted. “Can you believe that guy, Hunk?! What the heck kind of jerk blames someone else for their own lack of attention then proceeds to interrogate and yell at them I mean seriously! Who does he think he is?” Lance threw his hands up into the air to emphasize his point, swiveling around to face Hunk._

_“Oh, that’s Keith, Keith Kogane. He’s the best pilot in the school, could easily be as good as Shiro was one day.” Hunk shrugged._

_Lance scowled darkly, “Of course he is. Freaking jerk, probably just thinks he’s better than everyone.” Lance muttered, shooting one last glare towards the door as he turned to the simulators. “Come on, if I thought I needed to fly before holy crow do I need it now.”_

**********

They followed behind the Garrison vehicles, following the tracks that they’d made in the dirt. By the time they arrived, the Garrison had already set up a camp with a makeshift tent in the center, and guards and vehicles all around, one of which was in the process of hauling away what Pidge and Hunk could see was some sort of spacecraft. Hunk was right, it was _not_ one of theirs.

It didn’t take long for Pidge to set up a small computer hub on the edge of a cliff a little distance from the Garrison’s camp. Hunk and Lance sat around her, listening to the soft beeping from her computer as she typed. Hunk had the goggles and was describing the camp layout to Lance who was listening intently, trying to paint a mental picture.

“Woah, alien ship. Man, you’d never get past all those guards to take a look.” Hunk laughed nervously, “So you know, I guess there’s nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right.” Hunk got up, edging away from the cliff when Pidge called out.

“Wait. They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!”

Hunk and Pidge stared in disbelief at the screen as Lance’s eyes widened. He could hear Commander Iverson talking to someone else, trying to calm them. _It couldn’t be... but that sounded like-!_

“You have to listen to me!” The man from the video grunted in what sounded like fear, like he was trying to pull away from something. “They destroy worlds! Aliens are coming!”

“That’s Shiro!” Lance cried out in shock. “The pilot of the Kerberos mission. That guy’s my hero!”

“Guess he’s not dead in space after all.” Hunk commented.

Pidge just frowned, brow furrowed, “But where’s the rest of the crew?”

They all leaned in to listen further as Iverson continued to interrogate Shiro. They jumped when they heard Shiro mention “Voltron”, swiveling towards Pidge who repeated the name in surprise. They focused back onto the video in time to hear one of the medics mention that Shiro’s arm had been replaced by some kind of cyborg prosthetic, and for Iverson tell the other medics to put Shiro under until they knew what it could do. Shiro started calling out in distress and Lance frowned as he heard Shiro fighting them.

“They didn’t ask about the rest of the crew.” Pidge huffed.

“What are they doing?” Lance exclaimed, eyebrows raised, “That guy’s a legend. They’re not even gonna listen to him?”

Pidge turned to Lance, “We have to get him out.”

Hunk stood up. “Uhh, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren’t we just watching on tv because there’s no way to get past the guards?”

Lance smirked at Hunk, “That was before we were properly motivated. We’ve just gotta think. Could we tunnel in?”

Pidge piped up, “Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs.”

“Or we dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary- little late night snack.”

“No.” Lance replied immediately. “What we need is a distractio-” Lance screamed and everyone yelped as explosions went off in the distance. Hunk began panicking and Lance gasped for breath, hand against his chest trying to calm his racing heart and mentally cursing out people who felt the need to set off loud explosive sounds without warning.

“Is that the aliens? Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!”

“No!” Pidge called leaning forward, “Those explosions were a distraction, for him!” She pointed and Lance huffed in frustration, unable to see who or what she was talking about. “The Garrison’s headed toward the blast, and he’s sneaking in from the other side.”

“Hunk!” Lance cried in frustration.

“Ok, ok!” Hunk grabbed the goggles and peered through them, trying to see if he could tell who it was that Pidge saw. “Umm.. it’s some guy with dark hair dressed in black and red. I dunno he has some sort of mask covering the lower half of his face, I can’t tell who he is. Sorry, Lance.”

Lance huffed again, getting up quickly. “Well, he is not beating us down there! Come on!”

Hunk cried out in warning as Lance started moving down the slope towards the camp, at speeds Hunk personally felt rather unwise, clicking his tongue as he went. Hunk called out Lance’s name and quickly followed him down the slope annoyed at his friend’s lack of self-preservation. Pidge was only a few steps behind him. The walking stick lay forgotten on the cliff top.

Lance yelped, slipping down the slope twice, which allowed Hunk time to catch up to him and help, but he refused to slow down. They sped along the bottom of the cliff face, Lance just ahead of Pidge and Hunk. Lance listened to the echos of his clicking as he ran, maneuvering towards the opening he could hear in a tent directly in front of him. Lance sprinted up the metal slope and into the short hallway, slowing and brushing his hands along the wall as the echoes became more disorienting from the soft clanging. He could make out muddled figures ahead in some sort of room and quickly made his way towards the only ones that were standing.

“Nope, no you- no no no no. No you don’t. I’m saving Shiro.” Lance shoved a table aside, just missing bumping into it at a sharp warning cry from Hunk as he strode towards the oddly shaped figures. He could sense the intruder holding someone else, obviously Shiro, up on their left side. Lance quickly moved past the table to take Shiro’s other side, lifting Shiro’s arm up and over his own shoulder as the other man turned towards him.

“Who are you?”

Lance immediately groaned. He’d know that voice anywhere. “Oh no, not you.”

The man, _Keith_ , shifted Shiro closer to him. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Who am I? Uh, the name’s Lance? We met at the simulators once and you were, well to put it nicely, a massive jerk!”

Keith scowled and narrowed his eyes. “Once? Really? What class were you in... were you some sort of cargo pilot or something?”

Lance bristled, but before he could snap back Hunk called out nervously from outside. “Uh guys?”

Pidge turned back around and ran outside, Lance and Keith trailing after her. Keith led a grumbling Lance towards his bike while Pidge ran over to Hunk.

Hunk had the binoculars out and was looking at something on the horizon as Pidge crouched behind him. “Oh man. They’re coming back and they do not look happy.” They started to run after Lance and Keith’s quickly retreating backs. “We’ve got to go!”

When they reached the bike, Keith let go of Shiro to move behind the controls. Lance startled a little but took Shiro’s weight. He started to click softly in order to try to see the bike, but Hunk caught up a few steps later and helped him get Shiro onto the back of the bike, calling over his shoulder at Keith. “Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?”

Pidge pulled Shiro up onto the bike as Lance scrambled up behind them. Seeing that Lance, Shiro, and Pidge were safely situated, Hunk tossed himself onto the back end of the bike, causing it to tip sharply backwards. Lance squawked as he and Shiro were suddenly thrown against one of the wings and Hunk called apologies. Pidge reached out and grabbed him and Shiro, resituating them as Hunk pulled himself into a sitting position. “Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?”

“No.” Keith’s annoyed reply was cut short as the lights of the Garrison’s vehicles suddenly grew brighter, illuminating their faces. Keith whirled the bike around and gunned it, taking off across the desert.

Lance felt completely exposed and unsteady as the hoverbike jerked underneath him. Keith accelerated as much as he could to avoid the Garrison officers and guards. Lance was sure he was going to be sick, but he had to make sure that Shiro would be ok. So he mustered up enough courage to turn to Pidge as he steadied himself with his legs, and thrust Shiro at her, shaking violently.

“Why am I holding this guy?” She cried.

He shot Pidge a desperate, disbelieving look. Pidge winced as she took in his pinched expression and wide eyes and took Shiro from him without any further complaints.

Lance squatted on the left wing with his other hand braced behind Pidge and Shiro on the other wing, terrified, as Keith dodged and swung with complete abandon through the rocky cliffs at speeds he personally felt were extremely unnecessary. Pidge gripped Shiro, allowing Lance to white knuckle the bike as he tried to cram himself as close to the others on the back as possible.

Hunk glanced back, “Um, they’re gaining on us!”

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Lance called to Keith, then snapped his mouth shut. _Oh, he wished he could take that back._

“We could toss out some non-essential weight.”

Lance blinked, _Hey, that was a good idea! Wait…_

“Okay, so that was an insult. I get it.”

Keith ignored him. “Big Man, lean left!”

Hunk complied and Lance’s resulting shriek was lost in the wind tearing through their hair and clothes. He flailed as the entire hoverbike tilted violently to the left and skidded across the desert. Pidge detached a hand from Shiro and grabbed his flailing one, yanking it back onto the right wing of the bike where he clutched the metal in a vice grip, trying to calm his gasping. _Best pilot!? More like, Worst Pilot! What the ever-loving heck Keith!_

“Aw man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! No, no. He’s fine.

Lance flinched as he heard the sounds of vehicles crashing behind him. He grit his teeth, clinging to the back of the wing with both hands now, fighting the gravity pushing down on him as he realized they were heading up a cliffside. He braced his feet on the left wing. It was taking all of his concentration to stay on. _Commentary completely unnecessary this time, Hunk!_

“Big man, lean right!”

Lance hunched at Keith’s call, preparing himself for the force that jerked on him as they freefell for a moment off of the cliffside and onto a lower ledge on their right. He was starting to seriously question his dreams of piloting. He didn’t think he could do this if dogfights were going to feel like this. The thought made him sicker than the constant fear that he was about to go tumbling off of the bike to his death as he was whipped around by Keith’s insane driving.

Everyone screamed as Keith peeled around the cliff ledge, curving the bike sharply to keep it under control and not crash into the rock wall rising and curving close to them. Lance clung like a bur. _There was no way this could get any worse._

“Guys,” Hunk stammered, voice rising in pitch, “Is that a cliff up ahead?”

_Oh, no, no, no,_ “No, no, no, no, no!” Was he speaking, yelling? Lance couldn’t tell as he felt the startled calls of ‘No!’ echoing around and through him.

Keith smirked, leaning over the bike as he flicked the handlebars, gunning it, “Yup!”

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance screamed as the bike shot off the cliff, hovering for a moment before dropping in an arch, speeding towards the rapidly approaching rocky ground. Lance slipped forward as they dropped. Hunk, though terrified as he braced himself flat against the back tail and trying not to slide forward, lifted his foot and hooked it around Lance’s arm, desperately holding him in place.

“What are you doing?” Lance shrieked, as he leaned back, clinging to Hunk’s foot and the bike. “You’re going to kill us all!” He screamed as he fell away from Hunk’s foot and pitched forward, body curved around the wing he’d previously been sitting on and the front of the bike near Keith’s foot. He tucked his face into the bike. If the end was coming now, he sure as heck didn’t want to know about it.

“Shut up and trust me!”

Keith yanked back on the hand brakes and slammed on the petals, righting the bike from its downward tilt and causing a large burst of energy to shoot out from the bottom thrusters, effectively buoying them up before they were flattened into the earth. Then he took off, flashing across the desert and leaving the Garrison far behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there is a good reason Keith is kind of sharp with Lance when they first meet that will be explained at a later date (not that that excuses him but it's still important to Keith).

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if you guys have ever seen purple lightning but it is FANTASTIC
> 
> I'm debating throwing more flashbacks to Lance's past into this fic randomly (aka as I come up with them). I already have a few figured out like how Lance meets Hunk, Pidge, and Keith and a few interactions with his family when he's learning to cope with his newfound lack of sight. Ok so I WILL be doing this I just don't know when and where yet XD
> 
> If I've gotten anything in my Spanish or with Lance's disability wrong I APOLOGIZE TEN THOUSAND TIMES. Accuracy is REALLY important to me so I always do a lot of research, but sometimes it isn't enough. If you notice anything that bothers you please talk to me! I LOVE learning and will gladly change things to be more accurate if something's wrong.
> 
> No Lance does not attend the Garrison he visits (/sneaks in to see) Hunk :)


End file.
